My name is Dave Stancliff. Walk down the road of life with me each day. You'll find news and my views. I'm a Vietnam Veteran, father to three sons, proud grandfather 5 times over, an independent thinker, and a former newspaper publisher and editor.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

As a veteran I’m particularly disgusted with those who take advantage of veterans. What I’ve been reading lately about veteran charities is particularly chilling. It’s getting hard to know who to trust these days when donating to any charity.

I’d like to think there’s a special place in hell for those getting rich ripping anyone off…especially veterans. I do believe in Karma however, and feel confident these scoundrels will get theirs. Here’s some recent news on the subject:

“California's attorney general sued a major veterans charity on Thursday, accusing the officers and directors of engaging in self-dealing and fraudulent fundraising, and paying excessive compensation.

The suit seeks to remove the officers and recover $4.3 million that it claims was improperly diverted from Help Hospitalized Veterans. The charity in Winchester, Calif., was founded in 1971 to provide therapeutic arts and craft activities for patients receiving care in Veterans Affairs hospitals, military hospitals and state veterans homes, according to its website.

According to Charity Navigator, a third of the 50 military veterans charities it evaluates rate poorly and 20 percent either got a zero for their financial management or a "donor advisory" tag, which indicates the organizations are being investigated by authorities.

That compares to 2 percent for other kinds of charities, said Ken Berger, the president of the Washington-based group that evaluates 5,500 charities.” (Read the whole story here)